


I'll Be There

by AimAim94



Series: Iron Dad/Spider Son Short stories and One Shots [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Career Day, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Platonic Cuddling, Sick Character, Sick Peter Parker, Sickfic, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-01-25 01:30:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21348043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AimAim94/pseuds/AimAim94
Summary: Peter Parker doesn't feel good.Tony tries to help him feel better and helps to take care of him.
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Iron Dad/Spider Son Short stories and One Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1540996
Comments: 65
Kudos: 782
Collections: ellie marvel fics - read





	1. Sick Spider-Baby

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> If you are new to my stories...WELCOME! 
> 
> If you are coming back for more...WELCOME BACK! 
> 
> I am still kind of new to this, so I make mistakes here and there. Please give some grace. :)
> 
> *Note: I don't own these characters. They belong to Marvel and Sony.*

Peter bounced into the lab after school on a snowy Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Stark wasn’t in there, but he still set all of his stuff on the table in the corner where he always put it and greeted the robots, Dum-E and U. 

He shivered even though he knew the lab must be warm. He’d walked from the subway rather than calling and asking Happy for a ride. Happy always seemed upset when he had to come and pick him up so Peter tried to avoid it by all means necessary. 

He had a pounding headache from the day at school, and he just wanted to go home and lay in his own bed, but he’d made a commitment to Mr. Stark to be here to work on his suit and he wasn’t going to let him down. The man was busy so Peter didn’t want him to think he it went unnoticed or under appreciated. 

Mr. Stark strolled in with a mug in hand steaming with heat. He had bags under his eyes. Peter wondered when he had last slept. 

“Sorry, Underoos. I got caught up on the phone with Cap about something Avengers related. You still sure about protecting the little guy? You can take my spot if it means I don’t have to handle anymore phone calls today?” Tony teased. 

Peter tried to give a smile but the pain in his head continued to grow. 

Tony frowned at the lack of reaction from the kid, but figured he’d just had a long day. He pulled up the design for Peter’s new suit they were working on and Peter slid onto the stool next to him. 

“What do you think about that kid?” Tony asked when he had changed a few things. But at some point while Tony had been distracted with the designs the kid had fallen asleep on the work table. Tony sighed. The kid must be over doing it with school, Spider-Manning and lab time. 

“Fri, the kid’s just tired?” Tony asked. 

“It would seem that Mr. Parker is running a fever of 104 degrees.” Friday responded. 

Tony felt the kid’s forehead with his own hand. He was really warm. Tony picked up the lanky teenager who weighed what felt like nothing after the bite and brought him up to the couch. He settled him in with a blanket, dimmed the lights for his sensitive eyes, and left a bottle of water next to him. 

Tony headed back down to the lab to work on the suit more, “Friday. Alert me if the kid wakes up and needs me. Oh, and text the kid’s aunt and let her know what’s going on and that he’s probably going to crash here.” 

“You got it, boss!” Friday responded. 

~

Peter woke up on the couch frowning. He sat up and the world spun around him. He grabbed his head. He decided to carefully lower himself back down to the couch after that. 

“Friday?” Peter asked. 

“Yes, Mr. Parker?” Friday answered. 

“Peter is fine. Friday. We talked about this. Is Mr. Stark still working on the suit?” Peter asked. 

“Yes. The boss has been working on it since he went back down to the lab.” Friday responded. 

Peter was fine. He was too old to want someone to be miserable with him when he didn’t feel good. He didn’t need Mr. Stark to come upstairs and sit by him on the couch and watch movies. 

Peter tried to close his eyes and go back to sleep, but the pain in his head was bad and he couldn’t ignore it any longer. He knew that he couldn’t take anything over the counter because it just ran through his system too fast. Dr. Banner had made him some medication that Tony could access though. 

“Friday?” He asked again. 

“Yes, Peter.” Friday answered. 

“Good one on the name, and can you ask Mr. Stark about medication for my headache?” Peter asked. 

“Certainly, Peter.” Friday responded. 

Peter soon heard Tony coming up the stairs. He felt his cool hands on hie forehead even though his eyes were closed and he was starting to drift back to sleep. He wanted the cold hand back when it was removed. He was burning up which is very abnormal for Peter because he was always cold especially in the winter. 

Tony went and got the medication from the MedBay and when he came back the Spider-Kid was back to sleep. He considered waking him, but May always told him that fevers were good when Peter was sick. It meant the immune system was doing what it was supposed to. “We don’t kill fevers unless we have to.” She would say. 

He left the pills next to the water and told Friday to let Peter know they were there when he woke up next. He rubbed at his own tired eyes, but went down to the lab in lieu of sleep. He worked for a couple hours until he heard a crash upstairs. He raced upstairs and found the the lamp tipped over and shattered. 

Peter stood over it. He looked at Tony and said, “Don’t worry. I got the bad guy.” And promptly passed out. 

No. No. No. No. No. Tony grabbed the kid and put him on the couch checking his breathing. He should have re-checked his fever a while ago. 

“Friday, fever?” Tony asked all the while ignoring the mess in the living room from the lamp. 

“106.2, Boss.” Friday responded. 

“That’s bad, right?” Tony asked. 

Of course it was bad. The kid was delirious from his fever. Tony pulled out his phone and made a call to Bruce. He quickly explained the situation and Bruce said that he needed to get Peter in a warm bath. Not hot, not cold. If it leans too much one way or the other it could send Peter’s body into shock and get him to take his medication. 

Tony ran and started the bath water. He then went back for Peter and put him in the bath clothes and all. 

“No…Tooo…Cold…” Peter protested weakly. 

“It’s not cold, bud. You’re just too warm to be able to tell the difference.” Tony explained. 

“Don’t feel good.” Peter said. 

“I know, Bambino. I’ve got you though.” Tony said. 

~

After the bath Tony left Peter to get dressed in sweats and a t-shirt he’d pulled from his room in the tower. Peter came out and wobbled a bit. Tony assisted him back to the couch. Peter snuggled into the couch with the blanket that Tony had thrown over him earlier. 

Tony looked at the ceiling, “Friday, Temperature?” 

“104.3” Friday said. 

Tony sighed. It wasn’t good, but it was a lot better than before. He grabbed the pills and water and held them out to Peter who just turned away from the offered medication. 

“Listen, Underoos. You’ve got to take these. Doctor’s orders. Don’t make me call your aunt and worry her.” Tony said. 

Peter groaned and sat up taking the medication and swallowing it down with a swig of water. 

Tony watched the kid start to drift back to sleep and went to clean up the glass and the bathroom. He came back to the living room and brushed the kids hair out of his eyes. He watched his chest rise and fall with his even breathing. He turned to walk away when he heard a sleepy, “Don’t go.” 

Tony’s couldn’t have left if he had wanted to in that moment. He sat down next to the kid who seemed starved for attention because he quickly used Tony as a pillow. Tony ran his fingers through the kids hair. 

“Mr. Stark?” 

“Yeah, Underoos.” 

“I’m sleepy.” Peter said softly. 

“Well hello Sleepy, I’m dad.” Tony said. 

Peter didn’t even seem to notice his slip because he never said anything and he was soon back to sleep. Tony hoped that he would think that it was from the fever because he didn’t know where that had even come from. It had just slipped out. 

~

Peter woke up the next morning feeling slightly better. His head still felt a little stuffy, but he didn’t feel like he was dying anymore. He noticed that he had used Mr. Stark as a pillow all night and felt a tinge of embarrassment until he remembered that Mr. Stark had made a dad joke.

“Did Mr. Stark really make a dad joke?” Peter asked Friday quietly.

“That is correct.” Friday responded. 

“Traiter.” Tony mumbled. 

Peter laid back down against Tony’s chest, “What does Bambino mean?” 

Tony exhaled loudly. It seemed the kid had been more with it than he thought originally. 

“It’s a term of endearment.” 

“Oh. Okay. Cool.” Peter said. 

The room grew quiet for a while and then Peter spoke up again, “I haven’t had a father figure in a while. I’m not sure I remember what it even feels like to have a dad.” 

Tony’s heart beat loudly and he inhaled sharply. He knew he’d started this, but did he want this kid to rely on him as his father figure? What if he messed it up? What if he couldn’t take care of him. But the kid was currently laying with his head on his chest and he knew he’d do just about anything for him. 

“Well I don’t know much about being a dad. Maybe we can teach each other?” He said quietly. 

“Hmm. K. Does this mean you can come to career day since Aunt May can’t next week?” Peter asked. 

“I’ll be there.” Tony meant in a way that meant more than just to the school. He planned to be there for everything. He wasn’t going to let this kid down. He was going to be at everything that was important to him. He might even sit in the front row. He wanted to be the one to teach him how to drive. He wanted to be with when May dropped him off at college. Yeah…He’d be there for it all.


	2. Career Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Career Day for Iron Dad and his Spider-Son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY! I had a lot of request for this, and I really hope it lives up to your expectation. This was a lot of fun to write. I have maybe 1-2 chapters in this short story left. I can't help myself...I have to pick up where I left off. 
> 
> What happens on Christmas morning? Do you want to know? I kind of do.

Peter raced to the school office to hand in his slip for Career Day that was all filled out. He’d meant to do it before school, but then he’d gotten distracted by Ned telling him about his weekend, and the Peter had to tell Ned about his own weekend. If he hadn’t that would have been plain rude. He ran inside and handed the form to the school secretary. 

Ms. Kopp read it over and then handed it back to him, “I’m sorry, Peter. Career day is for the parents and legal guardians of the students.” 

Peter’s heart sank, “But Aunt May can’t come.” 

“I’m so sorry, Peter. Maybe next year.” Ms. Kopp said. 

Peter took the form back and walked out of the school. He saw Happy waiting for him and slid into the car. He leaned his head against the seat closing his eyes. He had his earbuds in because he just wanted to be alone in his thoughts. 

No one understood what this felt like. He never got to go to father/son things. He hardly ever went to any mother/son things either. He didn’t blame Aunt May because she did her best but they lived on one income and she couldn’t just take off of work if she wanted the bills to be paid. 

Peter had thought that he’d finally have someone to show up to a important school event with, but he’d gotten his hopes up just for them to be crushed. Peter wiped off a tear from his cheek and hoped Happy hadn’t noticed. 

They pulled up to the tower and Peter gathered his things and threw his backpack on again, 

“Thanks, Happy.” 

“Peter. Wait.” 

He paused because the man was staring at him intently.

“What happened at school today, Pete?” 

“Nothing happened. I’m fine.” Peter said. 

“People who are fine don’t tend to cry.” Happy pointed out softly. 

“I’m fine. I promise. Can I go? Mr. Stark is expecting me to help him in the lab today?” 

Happy nodded his approval that Peter could go. 

Peter walked inside and Friday greeted him, “Good afternoon, Peter!” 

She’d finally figured out that he preferred to be called by his first name. Peter didn’t respond though. He didn’t want to talk to anyone including Friday. He took the stairs to the lab and worked on putting on a neutral face. He didn’t want Mr. Stark to call him out like Happy had. By the time he entered the lab though he still didn’t feel any better and he wore his emotions on his face. He just sat on the stool by the table where he put his stuff.

Tony rolled out from under the car he was working on restoring, “Peter! Glad you’re here! Everything squared away for Career Day at school?”

It was at this point that Tony took a good look at the kid. Something was wrong with his ball of sunshine. 

Peter didn’t respond. He just kept messing with a loose thread on his shirt. 

“Peter. Spill. What’s going on?” 

Peter looked up, “Can I just go home today?” 

Tony frowned. The kid never wanted to give up lab time. Tony wiped his hands on a rag and went to lean his forearms on the table near Peter, “No. You can’t. You need to tell me what’s going on first.” 

“Nothing. I’m fine. I’m just tired.” Peter mumbled. 

Tony sighed loudly for dramatics, “If you won’t tell me what’s going on then I’m going to call your aunt.” 

Peter just shrugged. 

Now Tony was really worried. The kid normally begged him to leave his Aunt out of things. He claimed he didn’t want to add to her worries. Tony told her any of the really important things, but kept the minor details to himself and Peter like the time he’d bought Peter new shoes because he’d worn holes in his. Aunt May never needed to know where they came from although Tony knew she suspected the shoes were from him. But Peter had begged him not to say a word so he didn’t. And if Aunt May had hugged him after picking up Peter one night then whatever. It wasn’t a huge deal. 

Tony pulled out his phone and dialed May’s number. He sent it to the speakers in the room. He was waiting for the kid to stop him. He figured Peter would beg him to end the call, but he never did. He just continued to sulk where he sat. 

“Tony. Hey! Is Peter okay? Was I supposed to pick him up? I’m at the hospital, but maybe I can take my break early…” May said in greeting. 

“May. Peter is fine. I think…He’s on speaker with us. I think he had a bad day at school, but he’s not talking.” Tony said. 

“Peter?” May’s voice rang through with concern for her nephew. 

Peter just rested his face against the table. 

“See. NOT talking.” Tony said. 

Tony heard May ask someone to cover for her while she stepped away. Then she was back, 

“Peter. Sweetie. You know I larb you…You can tell me anything. Do you want me to come pick you up?”

“No. Don’t leave work.” Peter mumbled. 

“Then you’ll work whatever this is out with Tony?” May asked. 

“I guess…” Peter answered. 

“Okay, I gotta go then. Stay out of trouble.” The line disconnected. 

Tony pulled another stool over and started a staring contest with the kid. Spoiler alert. He blinked first. “Kid. You told her you’d work this out with me.” 

“So she wouldn’t leave work!” Peter said more loudly than he’d been since he walked in. 

“Okay, so now you’re a liar?” 

“No. I…I’m not a liar. I just don’t know what to say.” 

Tony heard the kid’s voice crack on that last word and his own heart started to hurt. He wanted to swoop in and fix whatever had broken his kid…No…Not his kid, but yeah…His kid. 

“Okay. Did I do something?” 

“No.” Peter said. 

“Happy?” 

“No.” 

“You had a fight with one of your friends?” 

“No. It’s stupid.” Peter snapped as he looked up. 

“Okay, but for something stupid you’re sure upset about it. It might help to talk about it.” Tony passed him a box of tissues. 

Peter wiped away tears he hadn’t even known were falling down his cheeks, “I never get to do anything for school when it comes to parent/kid stuff. I don’t have a dad and Aunt May works a lot.” 

Tony nodded but stayed quiet. He didn’t want the kid to shut down again. 

“I figured this would be different. I figured that something would finally work out for me. I figured that it was okay to be happy.” Peter stood and started to pace. He stopped and when Dum-E tried to pass him a hammer. It seemed even the robot wanted to make Peter feel better.   
Peter just picked it up and continued his pacing. 

“Okay…What would be different?” Tony asked calmly. 

“I went to hand in the note for the career day, and they told me it had to be parents or legal guardians.” Peter was standing in place now as sobs shook his body. 

Tony saw red. How dare someone be so inconsiderate of Peter’s situation. It shouldn’t matter that Peter’s family didn’t look like what one would consider traditional. He should still be allowed to participate. He wrapped the shaking teenager in a hug because that seemed like the most pressing concern. He was going to make sure this got fixed though. Maybe Pepper could send his lawyers to sue someone? 

“I’m going to fix this, Pete. You hear me? I’ll make it better.” Tony soothed the upset teenager. 

~

Tony was on the phone with Pepper after he’d driven the kid home for the night. 

“Tony. You can’t just sue the school over this!” Pepper was saying. 

“Pep, they made him cry!” 

“And I hate that too. I really do, but there is a different way of handling this.” 

“Hire an assassin?” 

“You’re an Avenger.” 

“That’s right. I already know one! I’m calling Natasha!” Tony answered with glee. 

“You can’t kill them.” 

“Well no that would be too obvious. They hurt my kid and then a couple days later end up dead.   
They would totally know it was me.” Tony teased. 

“You called him your kid…” Pepper pointed out. 

“Yeah. It feels true. I mean…May and I are almost co-parenting at this point.” Tony said. 

“You know what this means then?” 

“I have to buy Christmas presents for more than just you and Rhodey this year?” Tony asked. 

Pepper laughed, “No…Yes…BUT NO. Focus! You’re like a child yourself. You need to go to his school and have a conversation with whoever is in charge.” 

“BUT Pepper…What if they try to hand me things?” Tony shuddered. 

“Tony…Go to the kid’s school tomorrow. Fix this because you told him you would.” Pepper disconnected the line. 

~

Tony paced the small office the next day. He was waiting for the principle to come talk to him. The school secretary had been overwhelmed when Tony had asked to speak with him, but had quickly assisted him with the request. 

Principle Morita entered the room and shook his hand, “I understand you are here on behalf of Peter Parker. Forgive me. I didn’t realize the two of you were close.” 

“Well he’s my intern and a close family friend at that.” Tony said. 

“Alright, then. How can I help?” Tony took a seat and started to explain what had happened at school to cause Peter to have an emotional break down in his lab. 

After the story Principle Morita nodded along and finally said, “Technically that is the rule. We know Peter’s situation is sensitive though… It should have been handled with more tact.” 

“Handled with more tact…? I think what you meant to say is that it was a huge misunderstanding and of course I can stand in for the kid’s aunt, and also how sorry you are for causing Peter Parker any emotional distress.” Tony answered through clenched teeth. 

“I can’t just break the rules for one student, Mr. Stark.” 

Tony nodded, “Okay. Well…I’ll be contacting your board of director’s personally and letting him know how this school handles students who don’t have a traditional mom, and dad who can come to every event.” 

“I’m sorry that you feel so strongly about this. Peter is still more than welcome to attend. I hope to see him there.” Principle Morita held out his hand, but Tony shook his head and walked right out. 

~

Tony had promised to fix this so now he was calling in all sorts of favors. He had come too far to let the kid down now. 

The man on the other line listened intently and finally after Tony finished explaining Peter’s situation said, “I’m sorry that you’ve been having such an issue with this Mr. Stark. We would of course love for you to come share at Career Day! I’ll go down to the school tomorrow myself and make sure that you have a booth.” 

Tony sighed in relief. He’d been solving this problem all day while Peter had been at school. He couldn’t wait to tell the kid that he was going to be there for him just like he said he would.   
“Thank you, Dominic! I appreciate you handling this.” Tony could play nice when he needed to. 

~

Peter went into the gym for career day. They had booths set up for parents and the booth’s all said what student the person was related to. This was going to be great! He wasn’t going to be, “poor Peter Parker” today. He knew something was wrong though when he saw Tony arguing with someone from the school. Peter came to a stop next to him and he saw Tony exhale before he turned to address him. 

“Peter! You’re early!” Tony said. 

Peter looked at Tony’s booth and knew what was wrong. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make sure everyone knew that Tony Stark was at the school for Career Day. They had also gone to a lot of trouble to make it seem like an added bonus rather than that he was there for Peter. 

“I’m fixing it, Peter.” Tony said softly seeing his face fall. 

“No. Don’t.” Peter said firmly. 

“Peter. It’s fine. I’m having Pepper bring me some supplies. I’m going to re-do the booth. I still have time.” 

Peter knew the man assumed he’d said not to fix it because he was upset, but that wasn’t the case. “No. Don’t try and fix it because it doesn’t matter. It’s just a stupid booth. It’s a stupid career day. If the school is this set on you not being here as my ‘family’ then they shouldn’t have you here at all. Let’s just go.” 

Tony shook his head, “You’re right. It’s a stupid booth for a stupid Career Day. BUT you have just as much right as any other student in this school. It shouldn’t matter that I’m not related to you by blood. I still think of you as my kid, Pete. I’m not leaving. Pepper and I have a plan.” 

Peter just shrugged. Once Mr. stark got something in his head it was hard to convince him to do something else. He supposed they really were in this together now. 

~ 

Pepper arrived with happy and Rhodey in tow. They all carried boxes of things. Peter helped to take some form the adults. Pepper pulled Peter into a side hug and he smiled. The school may not understand Peter’s family, but it was his family nonetheless and he loved them. 

The family worked to tear the booth apart and re-do it. The booth soon had information about SI and Iron Man. Tony had even brought Stark Tablets where people could scan their hands and Friday would welcome them as a guest on behalf of Tony Stark and Peter Parker and the visitors could ask Friday any questions they wanted. 

Pepper had also hung up pictures in the booth of Tony and Peter together. Peter didn’t even know where some of them had come from. She even had a picture of them in the board room together when Tony had begged him to come and keep him from dying of boredom. Spoiler alert. He’d fallen asleep on Tony’s shoulder after a long night of patrolling. 

As the event started and people began to trickle in. They all headed toward the Stark booth. Peter beamed with happiness. He finally felt like he wasn’t the odd one out. He helped to explain some of the technology on the table when asked. The whole evening was going well until Flash headed his direction. 

Tony felt the kid stiffen beside him and saw his face drain of color. He didn’t know what had caused it though. He saw another teenager approach the booth but he was explaining something to another parent and figured Peter could handle any questions the kid had because he knew almost as much about SI as Tony did at this point. Tony froze when he heard how the kid addressed Peter though. He waited quietly though because he wanted to see how Peter would handle this before stepping in. 

“What did you have to do to convince Tony Stark to show up here for you, Penis Parker?” Flash said. 

Peter sighed, “Just leave me alone, Flash.” 

“I bet you told him some sob story about how your mommy and daddy died when you were younger and you have no one.” Flash taunted. 

“ENOUGH.” The terse word came from Tony himself. 

Peter knew this wasn’t going to be good. He hadn’t told Mr. Stark about Flash or how he bullied him. 

“It isn’t any of your business, but Peter is a family friend. I would do just about anything for him. 

Now if I ever hear you call him anything besides his name ever again. I will make sure you never attend more than a community college.” Tony said. 

“You..You…You just can’t…YOU can’t do that.” Flash sputtered. 

“He does what he wants…” Peter mumbled. 

“I’m Tony Stark. I do what I want.” Tony said. 

~

Later that evening at the tower Peter, and Tony were playing video games while they waited for food to be delivered. Tony sat on the couch and Peter was upside down on the ceiling and still winning. 

Tony blocked the TV to pull up ahead in Mario Cart. 

“Stop cheating! Pepper! May! Make him play fair!” Peter yelled. 

“You heard the man earlier…He does what he wants.” Pepper teased. 

“The food is here. Maybe it’s a good pausing point anyway.” May said. 

Peter jumped down and started to walk toward the kitchen. 

“Did you just tattle on me?” Tony teased. 

“Did you just have to cheat to be better than me at something?” Peter teased right back. 

“Keep it up. I’ll make sure to return any Christmas gifts I’ve already bought you…” Tony answered back with glee. 

“You didn’t…” Peter said. 

“Buy you Christmas gifts? It’s November. I’ve got to get a head start.” 

“But what about Santa?” Peter asked. He kept his face serious. He wanted to see how this could go. 

Tony frowned and ruffled his hair…”I mean of course…Santa will bring gifts.” 

May gave Peter a weird look, but didn’t out him that he already knew the truth about Santa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm overwhelmed at the amount of Kudos on the last chapter of this for something I just threw together one afternoon quickly. You are all the best type of people! 
> 
> Let me know what you think! Should I continued this story for a couple more chapters or edit and end it with this story?
> 
> Love you 3000!


	3. The Best Christmas Ever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter celebrates Christmas with May, Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SO SO SO SO sorry for the delay in this final chapter. The new job has sent my schedule all over the place and I'm still adjusting a bit. 
> 
> I hope it was worth the wait though and that you love it as much as I do.

Peter didn’t know what to get Mr. Stark for Christmas. I mean, what do you get for someone who has everything and then a little extra just in case? Peter walked the mall but didn’t see anything that he thought Mr. Stark would like. He sighed and pulled out his phone. It was time to call in reinforcements. 

He waited until the other person answered, “Pepper? I need your help!” 

It wasn’t long before Pepper and Happy showed up to help Peter. They walked the mall until 

Pepper finally stopped him and pointed in a window, “THAT’S IT!” 

Peter frowned, “Are you sure? You don’t think he’ll think it’s weird…I mean I don’t want him to hate his Christmas gift…” 

“He’ll love it, Peter!” Happy and Pepper both assured. 

Peter decided that they knew best and bought the item. 

~

Peter waved goodbye to Happy and Pepper as he walked into his apartment. The fire alarm was going off and Peter figured May had tried cooking again. Peter cracked a window despite the chill in the air. It would help to get rid of the smoke that hung heavy in the air. 

“I was trying to bake cookies. I just want you to have a normal Christmas.” May explained. 

“We’re spending Christmas at Avengers Tower. I don’t think anything about this is normal, Aunt May.” 

“You’re not mad that I picked up an extra shift tonight?” May asked. 

“No. I already told you it was fine. I want to spend Christmas Eve and day with you, but it’s okay if you work tonight.” Peter said grabbing a granola bar from the box on the counter. 

Peter took a bite and then looked at the packaging, “Dates? Who puts dates in granola bars?” 

“They are supposed to be healthy!” May explained. 

“I’m going to ask Mr. Stark to buy normal unhealthy granola bars…” Peter muttered as he walked away. 

“I heard that!” May yelled after him. 

“Wasn’t trying to hide it…I’m going to pack my bag and then we can go?” Peter asked. He was excited to get to the tower and wrap Mr. Stark’s gifts. 

~

Peter came to a skidding stop in front of Mr. Stark and stopped just short of running into the man which is good because he was drinking coffee and Peter had to believe it was hot. 

“Merry Christmas Eve Eve!” Peter said loudly. 

“Yeah. Okay? Are you going to be on this energy level all day, kid?” Tony asked. 

Peter took a good look at Mr Stark and realized something was very wrong. It was late afternoon and Mr. Stark still wore sweatpants and a t-shirt. He was also squinting his eyes against the bright lights. Add in the sensitivity to the loud noise of Peter’s greeting and Peter knew what was wrong, “You have a migraine?” 

“I’m fine, kid.” Tony assured the teenager even though he didn’t feel fine. He’d rather be in bed, but when May had asked him to let Peter come over a day earlier than planned he couldn’t tell her no. 

“Well you know what? I’ve had a long day and I’m not feeling the best, so maybe we just take it easy on the couch with some Christmas movies rather than lab time.” Peter suggested. 

Tony reached out and felt the kid’s forehead, “You don’t feel warm…”

“Maybe I’m just tired then.” Peter said. He knew Mr. Stark would never admit to needing to take it easy but if Peter needed it then he’d agree easily. 

“Well then you’d better make some popcorn and get some extra blankets from the hall.” Tony settled against the pillow on the couch where he’d been laying before Friday had alerted him to Peter entering the Tower. 

Peter came back in the living room with extra blankets and popcorn. He set the bowl of popcorn on the end table next to where he’d sit and then took one of the blankets and covered the already sleeping adult on the couch with it. He settled onto the couch to watch Elf. 

~

The movie was finishing when Friday alerted him to Pepper arriving. She came into the living room and smiled at the sight of her favorite guys on the couch watching a Christmas movies. She saw that Tony was fast asleep though and went around the couch to feel his forehead. 

“He’s not warm?” She asked Peter. 

“He says he’s fine.” Peter explained quietly. 

“But?” Pepper asked. 

“Migraine.” 

“How’d you get him to rest? He always fights me on taking it easy.” Pepper said sitting next to Peter and stealing some popcorn. 

“Told him I needed to take it easy today.” 

“Not a bad idea.” Pepper commended. 

“Prep and Landing?” Peter asked. 

“That is such a tinsel idea!” Pepper said. 

Peter grinned and requested that Friday turn on the movie. 

~

Tony woke up in the middle of the second Prep and Landing movie and said, “I’m going to bed.” 

Pepper leaned over and kissed him goodnight, “Love you!” 

“Love you too!” 

“Night, Underoos. Merry Christmas Eve, Eve.” Tony said. 

“Night, Mr. Stark!” Peter said. 

Tony climbed into bed feeling a ton better but knowing that his body needed to rest more if he was going to be ready for the Christmas celebration to begin the following day. He fell asleep to the sounds of Peter and Pepper laughing with the Christmas movie playing on the TV. Migraine aside…He couldn’t remember a better Christmas Eve Eve. 

~

Peter woke up early Christmas Eve and quickly wrapped Mr. Stark’s gift with Pepper promising to distract him if he woke up and tried to head in the direction of Peter’s room. He finished and frowned at it. It wasn’t the best wrapping job, but it’s the thought that counts, right? 

Peter put it under the tree with the other gifts sitting there. 

“You’re not trying to figure out what your gifts are, right?” Mr. Stark asked from behind him. 

“No. I can wait until tomorrow.” Peter said. 

“I mean I was going to let you choose one to open tonight, but if you feel like you should wait then who am I to argue?” Mr. Stark said as he started to walk toward the lab. 

“WAIT. Mr. Stark! I think you were right!” Peter said as he followed the man into the lab. 

“I do love the sound of that.” Tony said. 

“SO?” 

“Alright. You can open one gift tonight before Santa comes.” Tony said. 

Peter kept his face natural. He was going to believe in Santa forever if it meant extra presents. “Right…!” 

~

May walked into the Tower close to 6pm. She had worked an extra shift on top of her extra night shift and she was exhausted. She sat down at the dinner table and noticed Peter was avoiding her gaze.

“Peter?” She asked after she had exchanged pleasantries with Tony and Pepper. 

He just kept eating the food on his plate. 

Tony kicked him under the table and Peter looked up at him glaring.

“Don’t even act like that hurt you. Find a way to be respectful to your aunt. You can still be put on the naughty list.” Tony warned. 

“She promised she’d spend Christmas Eve with me and it’s almost over.” Peter said. 

“Peter. I’m sorry. One of the nurses called in. She had a sick three year. I couldn’t say no.” May explained. 

Peter just took another bite of his cheeseburger. 

“Okay. So you’re going to stay mad at me for the rest of Christmas Eve then?” May asked. 

Peter shrugged. 

“I’ll take his presents back if he does that.” Tony warned. 

“It’s okay, Tony. He gets the right to his feelings. I did break a promise. It was wrong and I should have called.” May said. 

“Right because it’s not like I wouldn’t have understood why you needed to stay at work. But you didn’t even call to wish me a Merry Christmas Eve.” Peter said. 

“Right. I should have said this a lot sooner.” May reached over to hug her still brooding nephew….”Merry Christmas Eve, I larb you.” 

Peter tried to hold back his smile, but couldn’t. “I larb you too.” 

~

Peter sat on the couch and waiting for Tony to pass him one of the gifts. Rhodey had arrived minutes before and also sat with a gift. 

Tony passed one to everyone until everyone had a package in hand. “Okay. Go ahead and open!” 

Everyone pulled out new matching Christmas pajamas. Peter jumped up, “I’m so excited!” 

“I’m glad someone is.” Rhodey mumbled quietly.

“WE HAVE TO TAKE A PICTURE!” Peter said before he ran down the hall to change. 

“You’d better have a pair of matching pajamas somewhere too, Tony.” May threatened. 

“Oh. I do.” Tony promised. 

“He was just as excited as Peter about this.” Pepper said. 

“WELL my childhood was dysfunctional and I never got to do fun stuff like this!” Tony explained. 

May smiled. It seemed this relationship was good for both Peter and Tony. 

~

After Peter had gone to sleep. Tony and Pepper picked up the living room and May pulled out gifts from ‘Santa’ from the hall closest. 

Tony ate the milk and cookies as they arranged all of the gifts. 

“The kid doesn’t really believe in Santa, does he?” Rhodey asked. 

“Don’t make him feel bad for it and don’t tell him the truth.” Tony warned glaring at his best friend from across the room. 

Rhodey held up his hands in surrender. 

~

Christmas morning dawn and Peter ran into May’s room to wake her and once he saw her starting to wake up. He ran to the guest room and yelled at Rhodey, “WAKE UP! IT’S CHRISTMAS!” 

“Where’s the coffee?” Rhodey mumbled burying himself deeper into the blankets on his bed. 

Peter ran into Tony and Pepper’s room, “IT’S CHRISTMAS. WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!” 

“We’re up.” Tony mumbled. 

Peter ran to the living room and could hardly contain his joy. It wasn’t because of the overwhelming number of gifts with his name on them. No. It was because he’d never celebrated Christmas with this many people he considered family before. 

Peter sat on the couch and pulled the blanket sitting there around his shoulders. The adults wandered into the living room after getting a cup of coffee. 

“Alright…Go to town, Kid.” Tony said sitting down and starting to sip coffee slowly. 

Peter jumped up and started to open gifts. Clothes, gift cards, shoes, a new winter jacket, books, video games, lego sets…So many lego sets. Peter felt grateful and blessed and he thanked all of the adults many times. 

Peter passed out his gifts to the adults. 

Rhodey opened his first. Rhodey laughed. It was a t-shirt that said, '#1 Uncle.' “I love it, Pete. Thank you!” 

He had gotten May a new scarf and a set of mittens because she was always losing hers. She hugged him tight and kissed his forehead, “Thanks, Pete! It’s the best gift ever.” 

Pepper opened her’s and smiled. She blinked back the tears in her eyes a bit. Peter had snuck a picture of Pepper and Tony one morning. They were both still in pajamas and were obviously laughing about something in the picture. They looked so happy. “I love it, Peter. It’s going on my desk at work.” 

Tony opened his, and paused. He didn’t even stop the tear that leaked out onto his cheek. It would seem that he didn’t need to second guess himself all of the time. He quickly put on the shirt that said, “#1 Dad.” 

“It’s okay?” Peter asked worried. 

“It’s more than okay. It’s great. I love it, Underoos!” Tony said. 

They spent the rest of Christmas being lazy, and just enjoying each other’s company. Tony helped Peter build a couple of lego sets and Pepper and May were working on a puzzle. Rhodey challenged Peter to a game of Mario Kart and Tony wasn’t going to let them play without him and quickly joined in. 

~

Peter was laying down in bed in the tower that Christmas night. 

Tony sat on the edge of the bed, “Good Christmas, bud?” 

“The best…” Peter said right before he drifted to sleep. 

Tony pulled the covers over the sleeping teenager. It had been the best Christmas ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll...That's a wrap for this short story! 
> 
> Leave a comment. How did you like this story? Prompts? I would love ideas for one shots or short stories. Let me know what you're thinking. 
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> AND hit that KUDOS button if you haven't already. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and I love you 3000!

**Author's Note:**

> Well what did you think? Should I write a career day story? 
> 
> Let me know what you think. 
> 
> I welcome feedback, and comments. In fact...I LOVE TO READ COMMENTS. 
> 
> Also hit that Kudos button if you enjoyed the story.


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